Weekender: Leanos Gives Dad a Different Kind of Empty-Nest
Syndrome

He's 2-0 against his father, but Hamilton junior Jon
Leanos (above) is more concerned about a Continental win than
one-upping his dad. Besides, he wouldn't be where he is without the
guidance of Drew coach Tom Leanos.

It was probably the biggest goal of his son's sophomore year at
Hamilton, and Tom Leanos had the benefit of watching from a
front-row seat.

Seriously, Leanos was probably as close as anyone could be to
watch his second son, Jon, bury the game-winning goal to give the
visiting Contintentals a thrilling 7-6 victory.

"He jokes with me all the time about how I stepped in the crease
during that goal," said Jon, now a junior for Hamilton.

Tom actually hoped for the goal to be waived on a crease
violation because he stood on the opposite sideline as the head
coach of Drew (N.J.) University, a position he has held for the
past 23 years. Because he has mentored the Rangers since before Jon
was even born, there is no mistaking his priorities on the one day
each year he coaches against his son.

"When he scored the goal, I thought, 'That's a great goal by
Jon. But you know what? We're going to get it back.' We just never
got it back," Tom Leanos said. "Did I want to win? Sure I did. I'm
still the head coach at Drew University. I have a son who plays at
Hamilton, and I have 34 sons that play on this team. I need to make
sure that our kids have a good experience."

From the beginning, Tom made sure Jon and his older brother had
good lacrosse experiences. When their hometown lacked a youth
lacrosse program, they moved. When it was game day at Drew, Jon ran
the endlines as a ball boy. And when Tom ran overnight camps at
Lawrenceville with Bill Tierney, Jon was the youngest camper
playing with much older boys.

"I remember one time I was a rising eighth-grader, and I was
playing with juniors and seniors in high school," Jon Leanos said.
"I was physically outmatched, but in the end it helped me out. I
learned to play savvy and use my mind instead of my stick
skills."

All of it allowed Jon to mature into a solid high school player
at the Delbarton School in Morristown, the next town over from
Drew's location in Madison. He had a solid prep career, primarily
as a feeder, but in an age where Division I programs finish their
evaluations by the end of a prospect's junior season, Leanos was
ticketed for Division III.

His father would have loved to have his son running the attack
at Drew, but he knew he was swimming upstream.

"I always say New Jersey's second-biggest export other than
cranberries is high school seniors," Tom Leanos said, with a small
chuckle.

"It was kind of unspoken between us that he kind of knew that he
would like me to go to Drew, and I kind of realized that I'd be
helping him out if I went to Drew, also," Jon Leanos said. "There
was also a mutual understanding that I would go to school that was
the best academic fit, and he was always supportive of that. He
never really pressured me or anything like that."

In stepped Hamilton coach Scott Barnard, who saw a late-blooming
player with tremendous potential at the Division III level. Despite
having a slight build and medium speed, Leanos the player had shown
a high level of the coveted "lacrosse IQ."

"It's one of those things that first attracted me," Barnard
said. "You can tell he grew up around the game, was probably the
ball boy at dad's practices and things of that nature. He sees
things extremely well, and he understands the flow of a game. He
sees things that coaches spend a lot of time trying to teach."

Jon Leanos arrived at Hamilton and immediately made an impact,
flourishing as a player who never appeared at the top of scouting
reports. That changed his sophomore year, when opponents started
keying on him as it became clear that he was the tipping point of
the Continental attack. He started getting early slides, and the
book was to get physical with Leanos. The approach put a dent in
Jon's numbers.

Jon Leanos suffered from what his father called
"sophomore-itis," when good players often find out they aren't as
good as they think. The only remedy is to work harder, especially
in the weight room, and become tougher. The son sought some counsel
from his father, but the conversations were brief.

"We talked about that stuff, but I pretty much let him alone,"
Tom said. "He's a pretty smart kid. He's watched a lot of lacrosse
and he's got a very good lacrosse IQ – significantly better
than his father's ever was."

"For the most part, he kind of left the coaching up to my
coaches," said Jon. "He'd always give me pointers here and
there, but he'd never be that dad who would pull me aside and
contradict my high school or youth coach. He was always telling me
to listen to what they had to say, and if I had any questions, I'd
go to him and he'd help me out."

Leanos, now a junior captain, returned to Hamilton this year
with the strength and confidence to lead the team. With a strong
supporting cast, the Continentals have raced out to an 8-3 record,
including a victory over No. 11 Skidmore on Wednesday, and Leanos
has 21 goals and 24 assists. His 4.40 points per game average leads
the Liberty League, nearly a full point better than the
next-highest scorer.

"He is doing everything he needs to be doing," Barnard said. "We
still have four games left, and he's already six points above where
he was last year with teams keying in on him."

One of the wins for Hamilton again this year was against Drew.
Leanos had a goal and four assists as the Continentals cruised past
the Rangers, 13-6. The Drew coach put his best defender on Leanos
and game-planned his tendencies, but it was to no avail.

"A lot of times, their defense knows what I'm going to do, so
it's nice to put a couple of goals in and dish out assists when the
coach of the other team knows you inside and out," Jon said.

While there is always the father-son dynamic when Hamilton and
Drew play, Barnard said the Leanoses minimize its effect on the
game.

"I think they have a great appreciation for each other," he
said. "They love the game. They don't look at it as a father son
matchup, so to speak. It's just one team battling against another
at the end of the day. They are just trying to do their best."

"Every father is proud of his son when he plays well," said Tom
Leanos. "Part of the reason we play Hamilton is because it is
a great place, but the second part is it's tough during the season
when your son is playing for another school, because there are
very few chances to see him play. At least that's one day I get to
see my boys here at Drew and my boy, Jon."